Before the end of the day...

Thursday, August 21, 2014

May seem like a rather strong color but this is for my Healing Room and I wanted fun colors!

This was for my niece's room

This was quite a process (wish this was a better photograph). Painted all over Paris Grey, details in Florence, including stencils. All over wash of French Linen and then waxed with Clear Wax with Silver added to the wax. It has a beautiful soft iridescent finish. Most importantly Sydney loves it!

A long discussion was had about the condition of the top of the vanity before we started. Since this is a pre-teen's room, subject to possible abuse (just being realistic), we decided to leave the veneer as is for now. Her taste are very likely to change and we can do it next time around.

This was our project (among others) while my crazy sister Claire visited Texas. Previously I had painted two matching stand alone cabinets for my parent's dining room in Paris Grey. They liked them so much, they wanted their kitchen painted as well. Took us a few days but we knocked it out. After painting, the cabinets were then protected with a matte finish poly.

Wow, how did this get in here? Harlow and my brand new grandson, Taj!

I wanted something else fun for my healing room.

This old blah piece was begging for something to take it out of it's misery. Barcelona Orange with Clear wax mixed with Aubusson Blue. Inside lid, Napoleonic Blue. Inside cabinet a custom mix of Napoleonic Blue and Emperor's Silk to make a dark plum. Stenciled in Napoleonic Blue. Still shopping for fun hardware.

You're next Baby!

Last note: There is a LOT of opinion and discussion about painting furniture and restoring old pieces. From my perspective, and for my own pieces, I make that decision on a piece by piece basis. If it's worth restoring, then I believe in restoring it. If on the other hand it is simply old, not superior quality and not a valuable antique then I have no problem having a little fun with it. I don't do this for a business, I do it for fun! And as my sweet husband says, "It's better than hanging out in bars."

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

I have had all I can possibly stand of this boring guest room aka Dead Animal Room!! The boring brown linens, black furniture, dull dull dull. Soon this dreary room will be transformed into the Spa Guest Room! Dreary to Dreamy!! Imagine the soft colors of sea glass with silver accents, bright white linens, white painted bed and dresser with silver mirror. Silver bedside tables with decorative touches. Reupholstered fabric covered bench and repainted legs. Floor to ceiling drapes hung behind bed, and new drapes to soften large window. Replacing ceiling fan with a pretty chandelier and new rug for the floor.

I'm in love with this color palette!

$35 bucks for this mirror!

Project #1. This mirror I found at Hausita Antiques in New Braunfels! Stole it for 35 bucks!! Love the lines, and love the large size!! I removed the mirror from the back. Super cleaned it with Denatured Alcohol that I picked up at The Home Depot. Just poured some on a soft cloth and wiped away dust and dirt. Spread out a drop cloth in the garage and sprayed with 2-3 coats of silver spray paint Rustoleum Silver Metallic Paint, letting dry about 20 minutes between coats. Let dry overnight.

Love the result! Super Shiney!!

Time to remount mirror and hang on the wall!!

Come back again for the continuing story of how to get rid of pesky deer!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Today was a perfect day! Beautiful skies full of big fluffy white clouds turning to thunderclouds and the glorious smell of rain off and on throughout the day. Put the top down on the car, up again, down again, up again. Sounds bad...far from it. It really was perfect. Finally after years of poor planning, I and a sweet friend of mine made it to the Blanco Lavender Festival. EVERYTHING smells good there! We just loved all of the vendors that take such pride in their homemade soaps, lotions, sprays, candles; you name it. After a bit of roaming around smelling and touching everything and about a thousand "Oh look at this", we decided to run up the road a bit and actually go to a couple of the lavender farms.

Road to lavender fields

Lavender Fields

Mmmmm, smells amazing!!

I want one of EVERYTHING!!!

In addition to the beautiful lavender there was a gorgeous peach orchard on the same property. June is beginning of peach season here in Texas. With all of the rain this spring, along with all of the beautiful wildflowers, we are due to have incredible peach crops! I can't wait to start making peach preserves. Peach with Pecans, Peach with Amaretto, Peach with Contreau, Peach with anything!!

These trees are loaded with peaches!!!

On a whim, we headed off to a favorite spot to have a few ice cold beers. Just west of Blanco is the world famous Luckenbach Texas. At Luckenbach you will always find a "picker's circle"! Folks just show up with whatever instrument they play, sit in a circle and play whatever music strikes their fancy. Today was a collection of many guitars, banjos, violins, a mandolin and believe it or not, a cello! It's an incredible experience where everyone is friends and you never know who you're going to meet and what part of the world they are from. Pretty unique and very cool.

About 25 pickers today!

Each one takes turns playing his or her own song, most of them originals. Everyone else chimes in singing learning the words as they go and playing their instruments along with the star of the circle. If you've got an instrument, just show up sit down and join in. You will find yourself shocked and very impressed by the amount of talent!

Texas is awesome!! It's no wonder there are so many people that move here so they can call it home too!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Hello my name is Leslie and I AM a Pinterest stalker. There, fine, I said it. It is not an addiction I plan to seek help for. How could I? I get awesome ideas from there. Well I think they are awesome and my husband is pretty tolerant, most of the time. This one he really likes! Duh, it's pretty cool, who wouldn't?

So here's the scoop.... I just happened to have a whole bunch of crayons sitting in a box and some canvases I haven't used (other Pinterest ideas that maybe didn't work out so great). I ordered a heat gun on Amazon! Love it, and of course I assured my husband that it could be used for many other things. Right now I can't remember what they were, but hey we're prepared! Got out ye old blow dryer, Exacto knives and covered my table with the roll of Christmas paper that if I have to look at one more year...you get it.

I used the knives to cut a slit in the paper around the crayons to remove it because I'm not looking to start a fire. Put all the groups of colors together blues, greens, reds, etc. As a side note; it gets a little warm in the area, don't set your crayons to close to your project.

For the moment of truth. I just started melting the colors over the canvas. My original plan was to have a splatter effect but I was having too much fun making puddles, and then making them slide on the canvas! I alternated back and forth between the blow dryer and the heat gun for different results.

One is never enough!

I like it better this direction

I've started a couple of others, but I'm still playing with them. Here is a preview.

Monday, January 21, 2013

My beautiful daughter hasNosce te ipsumwritten around her wrist. It is Latin and means "Know Thyself" It's perfect and inspiring!

“To thine own self be true.” Also a favorite of mine, is spoken by Polonius in Hamlet. It means "Do not deceive yourself". To deceive yourself (kid yourself, lie to yourself) is sometimes easier than deceiving other people.

The full quote is:

to thine own self be true,

and it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man

This implies that so long as you do not deceive yourself then you will not be tempted to deceive other people.

There is a shade of difference between not being true and knowing oneself and deceiving oneself.

As Polonius is so full of words, it is natural that the things he says be considered 'just a lot of words'. Polonius might not know the depth of his own words but Shakespeare did and it is up to us to get to it.

Think of this, how many lies have you told yourself over the years?? You're not tall enough/too tall, you're overweight, your nose is too big, you're not good enough, you're not smart enough... Lies, all lies I tell you!!

Each of us is created beautiful and perfect, just as we should be. I’m realizing no matter what other people say, do, or think about us, it is our opinions of ourselves that really matter. Maybe it's time to retrain our thoughts, "Know Thyself". Maybe everyone else around us knows that we are amazing but we don't know it about ourselves. Take ownership of your own greatness!!

Ultimately the question we need to ask ourselves is: Am I being completely truthful with myself? I have said countless times over the years "If we could just spend five minutes outside of ourselves and see ourselves the way others do, we would instantly realize how amazing we really are". This seems especially true for women. We are ridiculously hard on ourselves. Retrain your thoughts!! What if you were kinder to yourself? What if you complimented yourself, your great and perfect self? How instantly would your life change?

Fortunately, I am blessed with amazing people in life who do not hesitate to point out when I am deceiving myself and NOT deceiving them. They came to me in many different and beautiful ways. They are "my people", my personal cheering squad and I encourage you to carefully select "your people" too. If you want to be happy and positive then surround yourself with happy and positive people. If you want to make healthy choices then surround yourself with people that make healthy choices. Erase negativity from your life and watch your life evolve into a life filled with positive thoughts and deeds everyday. Seriously, who wants to be around negativity? Be the person you want to be around. Let go of the stories/lies you have told yourself in the past. Instead be kind to yourself. Be truthful with yourself about your greatness, own it and live it! And here's an idea; the next time someone compliments you, just say thank you. Don't argue with them, let their sweetness wash over you. Let it sink in, it's a part of you, a truth about you, just own it!

Could you start now? Right now. It is never too late! I challenge you to make a list of all of the super awesome things about yourself! Have fun with it, and remember "Know Thyself" and "To thine own self be true".

Friday, November 2, 2012

Of course those of you that know me best know that I truly believe that all of our loved ones are around us all of the time. When I need help with math, I ask for Granddaddy Shane's help. When I am looking for the perfect earrings or trinket to wear I ask for my Grandmother Viola's help, Hiking and outdoors activities (or when I am trying to remember a bad word in Spanish) my Granddaddy Mark, extra special prayers I ask for my Grandmother Marie's assistance in getting the word to the Big Guy. I especially like the company of our sweetest friend Gordon while I'm in the kitchen cooking for my family and when things are loud and crazy with my girlfriends I know Robin is right by my side! Unfortunately, there are many more and we deeply love them all. That is part of life. Enjoy each day we have with the living and celebrate the lives of those that have passed.

I hope this day reminds us all to remember the beautiful souls we have each been blessed with to share our lives.

The following is just a brief history of the tradition of Day of the Dead:

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all banks are closed. The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world: In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures. (source: Wikipedia)